Students suffering from higher gas prices at the pump should be worried about another financial drain.
As the university also faces higher-than-expected gas bills, student fees may go up $27 for the 2010-2011 school year.
The Department of Transportation Services is reporting it could be short anywhere from $50,000 to $200,000 during the upcoming fiscal year, which began in July. The deficit forced the department to seek help through mandatory student fees, which were approved by the president's council last week and await official approval by the Board of Regents.
In 2007, the department budgeted $3.45 for a gallon of diesel for DOTS shuttle buses in fiscal year 2009. Two years later, the price is $3.97 for a gallon of diesel.
DOTS Director David Allen presented the change to the Committee for the Review of Student Fees - a board consisting of undergraduate students, graduate students, faculty and administrators - saying the leftover money would be given back to students if gas prices declined. However, it would be better to have leftover money than to be forced to cut back services, said Jonathan Sachs, the president of the Student Government Association and a member of the committee.
The proposal to accommodate the rise in gas prices is a 19.9 percent hike in next year's annual mandatory student fees. This year, a full-time undergraduate student paid $135.80 for the fee. But that price may rise to $162.80 in 2010 if the regents approve the hike, which has already been given the go-ahead by several university governing bodies, said Director of Budget and Fiscal Analysis John Blair. He said he has never seen the regents reject a student fee increase in his seven-year tenure at the university.
The fee increase will help fund more than just higher gas prices, but Blair said gas prices played a "sizable part of it," with $12 of the $27 increase aimed at reconciling gas prices. In 2010, the university expects to raise $800,550 from mandatory student fees, Blair said.
DOTS Assistant Director Darryl Johnson said DOTS may be between $50,000 and $200,000 over budget next year if diesel prices continue to rise.
Last fiscal year, DOTS was $30,000 over budget because of the dramatic change in the cost of diesel that DOTS had not anticipated two years before. Yet the department was able to settle accounts because of supplemental income from the Odyssey of the Mind competition the university hosted on the campus over the summer.
But Allen and other DOTS officials said they weren't sure where the money would be coming from this year.
"We have to take a look at all our expenses and mitigate this and look at discrepancy income," Johnson said. "We wouldn't look at cutting anything until we saw a consistent pattern. We will monitor it closely and be prepared to make adjustments."
Johnson said DOTS would still need to evaluate the budget, but he thought he could reduce costs by postponing computer upgrades, helping to avoid cutting bus routes and other services.
As of the end of June, DOTS had $270,000 stored in a "fund balance," Johnson said, allowing the department to store funds when it spends less than was budgeted and save for the years when it is over its budget.
Johnson said the fund is for unplanned expenses. If possible, DOTS would like to avoid using the balance again, Allen added.
"We would like to make sure we address discrepancy spending that could be deferred," Johnson said.
University Police faces the same financial crunch DOTS does. The department anticipated the rise in gas in the spring and met to solve the estimated $90,000 loss, University Police spokesman Paul Dillon said.
He added that patrols will not be decreased to solve the deficit, but instead training will be cut to free up money for the gas for patrol cars.
"It can have an adverse effect," Dillon said. "But our No. 1 priority is the patrolling."
Administrators realize they will have to make tough decisions as they continue to deal with "unpredictable circumstances," Johnson said.
"Inflationary factors" play a role in the mandatory fee, said Ann Wylie, the university president's chief of staff.
"If X doesn't equal Y, there's always a price associated with it," Wylie said.
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